I had an incident today that inspired todays blog. I really love me EU hybrids. As well as breeding them for so long I’ve also brought in two new girls this year, one half EU, one just part. The part I’m looking forward to breeding with Edwin in the future, breeding towards the EU part. Some people like them for the genes, EUs are often added to improve angora lines. Others like their build, generally heavy built with nice blunt heads, usually big ferrets too though I’ve had small ones and Lunar our rescue EU jill was a slip of a girl. In any case they are always built. Solid muscle. They’re also popular for their colour which, although albino and sandy dilution is possible, generally ranges from dark sables with heavy masks, to black sables and black selfs and solids. The more northern the lines the darker the colouring generally is, I wonder why that is… They’re also generally more intelligent and there’s some cool little quirks in them personality wise, development wise and in their senses.
These are all amazing aspects, but they are not always good pets. I would say that up bringing and the personality of the line has 90% to do with this. Lunar was a proper EU personality wise and it is what brought her to bouncing from home to home. The less experienced owners and breeders she went to just could not understand her. Their intelligence and quirks can also lead to them very easily getting bored. Thinking of ways to keep Loki well stimulated as his eyesight has deteriorated has been interesting. I’m very thankful for my ferret experience and years of research into behaviour to give me ideas on games I can invent.
They can be very unsociable though. For the most part I have been lucky but they can be very unsociable with other ferrets. At the least they have a higher need for their own space than the average ferret. Between this and the higher energy aspects they usually need more space than a ferret. If they don’t have this they can become stressed or quite destructive to the cages thanks to their sheer strength. Speaking of husbandry their scent is slightly different. I only noticed this myself recently so it’s not really noticeable, just another little quirk.
If you’re really unlucky or the EU breeder doesn’t care you can end up with a pet who isn’t sociable with humans. Any (captive bred) EU can be tamed if the efforts put in from young enough to handle and train them right but they are naturally very solitary creatures. This can express itself with them being ferret aggressive but also really bad handlers, or even nippers or biters. The extra effort to nip train is the biggest part of why we insist on only selling hybrids to experienced homes, unless the kit is exceptional. They are powerful animals. Their claws can cause a lot of damage, their size and strength can make them particularly hard to keep a grip of if they’re wiggling and then there’s their teeth.
The incident this morning was with S’eth, one of our half EU boys. He’s a real lover. Friendly, handsome, lives with his brother and another unrelated hob just now (in July), jumps up and climbs to give kisses. To all intents and purposes he’s a perfect EU but today he hurt me in the most unexpected way. He loves his food and when running past to get it he was a little careless and, mouth closed, his canine scraped my hand as he ran past. No blood but I do have a scratch. Can you imagine the damage he could do if he tried? If he even mouthed? Lunar was always mouthing before she came here and needed taught not to. She had been taught it was ok to mouth in play, unfortunately because she was an EU her teeth were like a hot knife in butter and she’d break the skin with the slightest pressure. This is typical for EUs. Teeth built to kill but also the muscles, tendons and morphology to back it up. They can break small bones and cartilage in your joints with ease. Like ferrets they need the confidence in handling to keep their prey drive from kicking in in play. This is why personality and temperament is SO important when breeding EUs. They really are the ferret equivalent to a wolf. If you don’t breed towards domesticity, you’ll have a wild animal, and even then if they’re not given what they need and taught to interact without hurting you accidents happen.
All that said and done. They are amazing pets if bred and raised right. They always keep things interesting. They’re full of energy and play. Maybe it’s the extra work too but I always feel such a strong bond with my EUs. I honestly forget the damage they can do most of the time because of the love and trust I have for them… then I see them tear into some whole prey with bones snapping while the ferrets are still trying to get past the feathers. They are a step beyond ferrets. If you have the knowledge, experience and will to put in that extra effort they are so worth it in my eyes but only if you are ready for that step up.
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